A leader of a notorious terrorist group believed to be responsible for several bomb attacks in Central Mindanao since 2006 that killed 31 people and injured more than a hundred others, has been arrested in Sultan Kudarat. Police Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac said the suspect Jabide Abdul, alias Zabide/Beds, was arrested on Tuesday. Abdul, supposedly a senior leader of the Al-Khobar Group, was subject of several warrants of arrest on numerous charges.
Chief Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta said Al Khobar is a group of extortionists believed to be responsible for a series of bombings in the central Mindanao region since 2006. He said, “The group was allegedly created in support of Jemaah Islamiya (JI) and Foreign Militant Jihadists (FMJ) groups. It was intended to serve as a special unit concentrating on explosive component use and extortion schemes across Cotabato areas,” adding that the group first turned into a kidnap-for-ransom group before it became an extortion group.
Al Khobar is known to target businesses and local governments in central Mindanao, Villacorta said, noting that it has been blamed for the series of bomb attacks on bus companies and commercial establishments in the region from 2007 to 2009. He said, “A member of the group usually calls the target before the attack and demands ‘protection money’ to prevent such planned attack on their business. If the money is not paid, an attack is carried out."